James Eustace so proud of Melbourne Cup-winning son David

Simon Milham
November 1, 2022 11:19 am

‘It was just brilliant, it really was’, says former Newmarket trainer.

James Eustace says his Melbourne Cup-winning son David has no plans to return to England to train, insisting that he should remain in Australia where the sport is booming.

Top-weight Gold Trip, trained by David Eustace and Ciaron Maher, landed the world-famous two-mile contest in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with the former Newmarket handler watching on with pride back in England.

“It was just brilliant, it really was. It is great,” said Eustace senior, who handed over the reins at Park Lodge Stables to his other son, Harry, last year.

“We have had a great year really, because with Harry taking over, it meant we went out to Oz from March to May and they won the Guineas with a horse called Hitotsu, which was amazing,” added Eustace.

“On January 5, David said, ‘Try to get here for March 5, because I think we have got a colt who will win the Guineas’. We got there on March 3 and amazingly it did win. So, he’s not that bad!

“It is great, and Harry’s going well here, so we could not have hoped for better.”

Gold Trip, ridden by Mark Zahra, swept past English challenger Deauville Legend with over a furlong to run in the Lexus-sponsored Melbourne Cup before staying on strongly to repel the late thrust of another ex-British runner, Emissary.

It was another big victory for the Eustace family to savour, although the retired trainer admitted he had to ask for time off from his other son to watch it.

“We stayed up all night, because they had runners in virtually every race. I booked the morning off a few days ago – Harry let me get away with that!” James quipped. “I am very, very proud.”

Eustace is adamant that David has made the right choice taking up residency in Australia to pursue his career, as the industry continues to thrive Down Under.

“The Melbourne Cup is an extraordinary race,” he added. “I wish we had the passion over here for racing that they do in Australia. In Melbourne, there is so much interest in racing from every age group.

“David wouldn’t come back – we’re hoping he will come back for Christmas, but apart from that, why would you want to come back?

“I did say to him that with international racing now, you want to go east not west, although Harry did end up with Christophe Clement in America.

“Even from when I worked there 35-odd years ago, America is not in quite as much trouble as us, but not far off frankly, compared to where it used to be.

“Whereas everything eastwards is booming – Australia, Japan, Singapore. So I see no reason why David would want to come back. He’s doing brilliantly over there, and we could not be more happy or proud of him.”